Jerry’s Grill: Palm Tree Christians
In the next four weeks in August, we will be talking about the four best places to live. Have you ever asked the question, “Where is the best place to live?”
Every year, the UN asks this question about countries, and every year they release their recommendations in the Human Development Report. Canada topped the list for the first three years of the new millennium and then slipped to third last year, nudged out by Norway and Australia. This year, as of June 23, 2008, Switzerland took the pole position.
One of the UN’s three criteria for determining “Best Place” ranking is longevity, or life expectancy. According to the UN, this benchmark is determined by quality of and access to health care, a societal stress index, ecological and dietary factors, and so on. Basically, places populated by rich people surrounded by doctors, gyms, and ample leisure fare best.
But consider what the Bible says in Psalm 92:12-14.
12 But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. 13 For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. 14 Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green.
What is there about the palm tree that it is used to describe a righteous man? It got me thinking. The palm tree was once a symbol of Palestine. Palm trees grow in the desert, not in the depths of the forest or in a fertile loam. The tree is remarkable for its beauty, its erect aspiring growth, its leafy canopy, and its waving plumes. Biblically, it became the emblem of praise in all ages. Its very foliage is the symbol of joy and exultation. It never fades, and the dust never settles upon it. Much more, as the lighthouse is to the sea travelers, so the palm tree is the guide for the desert traveler to the spot where water is to be found. What an emblem of the righteous in the desert of a guilty world!
We may also regard the palm tree as a type of strength. Christian character ought to be stronger than native self-sufficiency, wherever found. Growth in holiness means breaking away little by little from dependence upon the good things of this life. Though rooted in earth we rise higher and higher to breathe the free air of heaven.
As the palm-tree affords guidance to the thirsty traveler indicating the presence of water, it is our business to live as salt and light to this world so that people may take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus. How often the weary and heavy-laden will turn to the meek, quiet and helpful spirit of one who is wise in the things of God. One who possesses a secret of goodness that ordinary people don’t have.
When the Psalmists “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock…” (Psalm 92:15) he makes the strong inference that a Christian’s life should be a hiding place from the wind, a covering from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
To be such a shelter is a great thing in this world. We can only do so when we are deeply rooted in God’s Word, shielded by no one else but God Himself, abiding under the shadow of the Almighty, having God as our Rock and refuge.
In Psalm 91:1-2, we read,
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Would there be any place better to live in than this?
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